Yankees get bad news on Giancarlo Stanton in time of need

TL;DR

The Yankees are facing a tough situation with Giancarlo Stanton as they struggle offensively, losing three straight games. Despite leading in home runs and runs scored, several regulars are underperforming at the plate.

Key points

Yankees lead majors in homers and AL in runs
Three regulars hitting below .200
Recent loss to Orioles highlighted offensive struggles
Yankees shut out with only one hit

YankeesOrioles

BALTIMORE — A lot of fabulous pitching and a few hot hands at the plate covered up a Yankees storyline that became more noticeable while they were losing three straight in Milwaukee last weekend and two of three this week in Baltimore.

While it’s true the Yankees lead the majors in homers and are first in the American League in runs, they have three regulars hitting below .200 and another batting .203 more than a quarter of the way through the season. You probably know the culprits: Ryan McMahon, Austin Wells, Jazz Chisholm and Trent Grisham.

Wednesday’s 7-0 loss at Oriole Park hammered this alarming trend home.

With a chance to win a series, the Yankees were shut out on one hit by the Orioles, who have the second-highest ERA in the league. The Birds received six shutout innings from a starting pitcher who began the day with a 4.83 ERA, right-hander Kyle Bradish.

“We’ve got to do a better job when we get pitches out over the heart of the plate, or we get some guys on base,” Aaron Judge said on a day the Yanks’ only hit was a fifth-inning double by Chisholm. “We’ve got to get some action going.”

During their week on the road, the Yankees scored eight runs in their five losses - none, three, three, two and none by game. In the lone win, five of their six runs came in one inning.

“We didn’t play our best,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Outside of the big inning (Tuesday), we didn’t quite mount enough offensively. We’ve got to get some guys going. We’ve got to get some guys on track.”